Since 2015, in the wake of the presentation of the document “Methodological considerations for developing an index of public policies for SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean (IPPALC)” at the "Regional Meeting on Public Policies for the Promotion and Support of SMEs”, held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, the Permanent Secretariat has proposed the implementation of such index in the region, suggesting a conceptual and methodological adaptation of the indicator developed by the OECD in 2006, with emphasis on the promotion of the productive coordination and transformation.

By virtue thereof, during 2016 two regional meetings were held in coordination with the OECD. The first one was the "Regional Meeting on the Update Study on the Public Policy Index for SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean (IPPALC)", held in San José, Costa Rica. And the second one was entitled "Workshop on the Implementation of the Public Policy Index for MSMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean", held in Panama City, Panama. Both events were geared to promote the use of this tool, and allowed for identifying the countries interested in adopting the index as part of their strategies to support MSMEs.

After these meetings, letters of interest were received from Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay and the Pro Tempore Presidency of the Pacific Alliance, held by Chile, which expressed the willingness and readiness of its member countries to develop the IPPALC.

Thus, in May 2017, the "Workshop to launch the Public Policy Index for SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean: Pacific Alliance and South America" was held in the State of Jalisco, Mexico. This pilot project of the IPPALC, which was implemented in the Member States of the Pacific Alliance, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay, has been developed through a joint effort among OECD, SELA and CAF-development bank of Latin America.

As part of the agreements reached in this pilot project, the execution timeframes and responsibilities of the organizations involved and the national coordinators of the countries were established. During the months of July, August and September 2017, questionnaires pertaining to the assessments of the IPPALC were answered and sent back to the technical team (OECD, SELA and-CAF). With this information, and that provided by independent evaluators during the period October-January, the team proceeded to assess the results obtained and to prepare a draft report for each country.

Later on, in July 2018, the "Workshop on the Validation of the Public Policy Index for SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean (IPPALC): Pacific Alliance, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay" was held in Bogotá, Colombia, in order to discuss and validate the scores proposed for the dimensions and sub-dimensions of the IPPALC, as well as the preliminary conclusions drawn in each one of the countries.

Finally, on the occasion of the completion of this pilot project and the official presentation of the final report, this subregional meeting will be carried out, featuring the participation of high-level national and regional authorities. The meeting will also serve as a platform to build a joint work agenda to facilitate the adoption of policies and reforms under a scheme of regional cooperation and synergy.